1. Field of the Invention
The presently disclosed invention relates to systems and methods for improving security and, more particularly, for improving the security of buildings
2. Description of the Prior Art
For many years, the design and construction of buildings, particularly public buildings such as schools, hospitals, hotels and the like, had various shortcomings in terms of restricting or controlling ingress and egress to/from the building. Much of the attention in the security field has been addressed to controlling the ingress and egress to/from the building. Limiting the access by unauthorized or unwanted persons has continued to be a high priority and the focus on this need has only further increased in light of recent terrorist attacks within the United States.
However, a number of different but related facets of security also require further attention and improvement. One of these areas is the need to facilitate the ingress and egress to/from the building under certain circumstances. For example, in the event of a fire or a bomb threat, there is an urgent need to facilitate the movement of occupants to locations within or outside of the building. Frequently when such circumstances arise, emergency responders such as firemen, paramedics, and police must gain access to the same structure to perform various emergency services such as helping to coordinate the building evacuation, control a fire, neutralize a human threat as well as other purposes. At the same time, the evacuation of the building must occur under circumstances where there is substantial confusion. In even more difficult circumstances, the evacuation must be attempted under conditions of limited visibility or access due to building collapse, fire, smoke or the like.
In addition to the difficulties of two-way pedestrian traffic that must occur in an adverse or physically dangerous environment, it is common that at least some of the occupants and, under some circumstances, some of the emergency responders are unfamiliar with the structure. This results in added difficulty for them to achieve their respective goals.
In recognition of these and other problems and difficulties, there have been a number of attempts to better inform and educate building occupants as well as emergency responders so that they can better deal with emergency situations that may occur. For example, several years ago, laws were passed to require the owners of industrial buildings to advise the local fire and emergency agencies of hazardous substances that were maintained at an industrial facility that could increase the intensity or lethality of a fire. In other instances, laws required educational, commercial, and public institutions to meet certain construction specifications that were intended to improve the awareness of occupants with regard to safety issues and to improve the movement of occupants through the structure—particularly during adverse conditions.
Compliance with such laws has become another important obligation of building owners. While the laws specify a necessary result, it is not always clear what conduct or performance by the regulated community is necessary in order to comply with the law in a way that will achieve that result. Furthermore, such laws are necessarily general in nature and are not specific to particular buildings, essentially all of which have unique features so that they are different from each other in significant ways.
Accordingly, in the prior art there has been a long-felt need to improve the efficiency and reliability of emergency egress and ingress to buildings. More particularly, there has been a need to improve the speed at which emergency responders can deliver emergency services in a rapid, predictable and repeatable manner, or in which a building can be evacuated.